The Bohol Police Provincial Office (BPPO) lays down a fortified security strategy to guard the province’s northern and western borders especially against illegal entry from other areas that may create windows where the virus causing the coronavirus disease (Covid) may spread.
The strategy was unraveled in a virtual meeting with members of the Bohol Inter Agency Task Force (B-IATF) security cluster on September 2, 2020, which is a follow-up meeting that transpired a day earlier, according to an information from the Capitol media relayed to The Bohol Tribune on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020.
The B-IATF security cluster assured Gov. Arthur Yap that the police have been coordinating with partners to enforce the security rules and boost border control measures.
The strategy is an enhanced version of Operation Plan (Oplan) Kalasag ni Dagohoy (Dagohoy’s shield), which seeks to fortify the security of the boundaries that are near Cebu and other provinces where illegal entries may happen.
The Oplan will be set in motion by a composite team from the Philippine National Police (PNP), Bantay Dagat, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG). The tasks of the members of the composite team are divided into clhsters, the information from the Capitol media said.
Lt. Col. Rey Tiempo, the deputy provincial director for operations of the BPPO, serves as over-all commander, while Maj. Jomar Pomarejos, the Bohol Tourist Police Unit (BTPU) is the commander of the Oplan Kalasag ni Dagohoy.
The information adds that team leaders are assigned to each of the seven (7) concerned clusters, namely: cluster 1: Loon-Calape-Maribojoc; cluster 2: Tubigon-Clarin; Inabanga-Buenavista; cluster 3: cluster 4: Getafe; cluster 5: Talibon-Bien Unido; cluster 6: Ubay-Carlos P. Garcia town; and cluster 7: Candijay-Mabini-Anda.
The following clusters are given specific areas of concern. Cluster 1 is responsible for the border control and security of the seawaters and island barangays of Loon, Maribojoc, and Calape.
Cluster 2 is responsible for the security of island barangays and seawaters of Tubigon and the seawaters of Clarin.
For cluster 3, the cluster is responsible for the security and border control of the seawaters and island barangays of Inabanga and Buenavista.
Cluster 4 is tasked to guard the island barangays and seawaters of Getafe town.
The fifth cluster will be securing the seawaters and island barangays of Talibon and Bien Unido towns.
Moreover, the sixth cluster aims to guard the seawaters and island barangays of Ubay and Carlos P. Garcia towns.
On the other hand, cluster 7 is responsible for the security of the seawaters of Mabini, Candijay and Anda towns.
RISING CASES
Tighter security clamps down the island barangays of Malingin in Bien Unido and Guindacpan in Talibon.
As of Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020, there are at least 80 Covid cases considered to be community transmission, majority of which are from the said islands.
A case is considered to be a community transmission when a patient had no travel history and the community transmission patient is neither a locally stranded individual (LSI) nor an overseas Filipino worker (OFW).
BIATF spokesman Dr. Cesar Tomas Lopez said that the spread of the disease via community transmission may be attributed to people who may have illegally entered Bohol from places where there are high cases of Covid, such as Cebu.
This observation is also shared by Second District Board Member Restituto Auxtero in a radio interview at Open Forum on Thursday, August 27, 2020.
Auxtero disclosed that there could be locally stranded individual that may have entered Bohol illegally or may have engaged in fish trade with people from Cebu.
However, he said that he is unsure if people In Guindacpan still continue with the fish trade amid the travel ban.
Lopez reported that as of Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020, there are 54 cases in Talibon that are considered to be community transmission. About 19 community transmission cases are recorded in Bien Unido, he added.
There are three (3) Buenavista town residents who are considered to be community transmission cases.
Moreover, there are two (2) Trinidad residents, one (1) Tagbilaran resident, and one (1) Tubigon resident who are also considered to be community transmission cases.
In a virtual presser on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020, Lopez bared that the Tubigon healthcare worker that tested positive for Covid is a 47-year-old female nurse and a member of the local contact tracing team of the said town.